GR20 – Rest Day (1)

Hey all,

Well, slept in till 10:30 – my legs are still killing me but I reckon the muscles should recover by the end of the day. Lolled about in the hammock for a while – then moved down to the hotel – I bought a couple of those walking poles that most people seem to have over here – up until two days ago I thought they were a complete triumph of marketing, and other than that, a waste of time. I imagined some exec had a few thousand meters of aluminium tube he could not sell, and a conversation that went something like this:

“Maybe if we made it into stupid walking poles, convince people they can't set foot outside a city unless they have them.”

“No one will ever buy that.”

“They will if we price them high enough.”

“Hmm. Interesting.”

Anyway, it turns out I was wrong. I think they help a bit going up-hills because you get to use your arms as well as your legs, but what I really want them for is the down hills – my knees just can't take it much longer – did not say this in yesterday's blog but if I could not have bought the poles here then I would have had to have pulled out I think – anyway they had them so I bought a couple. Also got some proper hiking boots, for much the same reason – they can do a bit of shock-absorbing instead of my knees. Anyway, am nervous about the boots – they were not that expensive – about 100AU, so not too much to complain about there – and the GPs are just about cooked anyway, but what I am nervous about is the fact that I won't get a chance to wear them in. I think I will put them on tonight for dinner, try to pay attention to any tight spots, and strap them up with blister tape before I start tomorrow. A gamble, but frankly I don't want to end up having to deal with another knee-reconstruction, which is a bigger drama than blisters, when you get right down to it.

Tomorrow is supposed to be the real nutter stage, the big one. Then it does supposedly get a bit easier, at least for a few days. It is not really a walk in the Australian sense of the word “hike” - it is more like a mountain climb, or at least the first four days are, and I really was not prepared for it – I have done long hikes, and I have done long hikes with weight, but this really has not been a hike so far.

Anywho, had a nice long chat to K for the first time in days, then had a nice long bath, then lay down on a nice bed to write this; might soon have a nice cigar and a nice read, then a nice dinner. The European way of doing multi-day hikes does have a few things going for it...

Photos – the Hammock – might do a blog about it one day cause they are pretty cool. Then 200 bucks worth of gear that I really did not want to buy, but don't think I will finish without.

Cheers, B.